Maternal Instincts
by MusicGeek764
Summary: A rainy day, a small knock on a door, and a pony who must learn to accept the new emotions that came with that day. One-Shot.


_Gah, what's with this weird thing with me writing random one-shots on Monday's? I told myself "No more Fanfic writing until the musical's over!" I guess I'll go on my no-fanfic hiatus tomorrow! The plot bunnies kept me up half the night with this one, thus story! _

**Disclaimer: **I don't own My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, and I'm not making any sort of profit off of this story. Plus, I'd rather not be sued; it just wastes so much taxpayer dollars!

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><p>Maternal Instincts<p>

She teleported right next to the door, looking around to make sure she wasn't seen. She didn't want a huge ruckus to occur just because she was here. Not to mention, her presents would cause questions, and she wasn't ready for Equestria to know. Not yet.

She quickly entered the hospital room and quietly shut the door behind her with magic. Kind Heart, a nurse unicorn, made obvious by her Cutie Mark of a heart with a bandage on it, was refilling the IV line. Kind Heart sensed the new pony in the room, and was slightly shocked at who was there.

"Princess Celestia," The nurse said politely with a small bow, quickly getting over her shock.

"Hello, Nurse Kind Heart," Celestia replied in a respectful, yet casual, manner. She didn't like being treated differently just because she was one half of Equestria's ruling power. She acted just like every other pony. "How is she?"

Kind Heart smiled. "She's getting better, slowly but surely. No doubt thanks to you, Princess." The nurse indicated to the small filly lying on the bed. Everything but her head and front legs were under the sheet, and her head was propped up on a pillow. Her wavy, lime green mane flowed out, almost completely covering the pillow itself. The skin underneath her bright pink fur was still pale with illness, but its color was returning, and her mane and fur were regaining some of the healthy shine most pony's had. The young patient was breathing the even, deep breaths that came with sleep, which she'd been in for a week now.

The filly was hooked up to a wide array of machines monitoring her condition. One monitored her heart beat, still going on steadily. She'd started breathing on her own a couple of days ago, but a different machine monitored that and was ready to take the task over if necessary. One tube attached to the pony was and IV line, another was a feeding tube. Even though she hadn't been taking food by mouth, the nutrients given to her by the tube was really helping her physical appearance. She was looking much better than she had a week ago when Celestia had found her...

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><p>Celestia sat in the palace library as it poured rain outside. It was one of the regularly scheduled rain storms the pegasi controlled. For Celestia, days like these were best spent reading, while her sister Luna preferred napping.<p>

Celestia was currently engrossed in a book Twilight Sparkle, her most faithful student, had sent her with her most recent friendship report. Twilight Sparkle ran the Ponyville library that she also lived in, and had come across the book reshelving one day. The P.S. in the report sang Twilight Sparkle's praises of the book and her insistence Celestia read it. Celestia normally entered her own world while reading, one that could only be broken by someone talking to her or a particularly loud noise.

Like that clap of thunder.

Celestia jumped and looked out the window. The rain was particularly heavy right now, which explained the lighting and thunder.

Suddenly, a small nocking sound was heard. If Celestia had been reading, she would have missed it. _The guards know I'm reading, so they would normally knock louder than that._

Celestia went to the door, ready to figure out what was wrong. Instead of a guard, like she was expecting, she instead saw a young filly, shivering, emaciated, and rather ill looking. Her mane and tail were one big mess of tangles, her fur was matted with dirt, and she was sopping wet. Her pale green eyes were half closed, like she was literally half-asleep.

The filly looked up at Celestia, and her eyes widened slightly the sight of the princess. She looked like she had just realized she was even on the castle grounds. She was so sick she might have just wandered her way onto the grounds without even knowing where she was. And, it was so dark out and she was so small, the guards probably didn't even notice her.

"P-p-Princess Celestia?" The filly phrased it as a question, as though she couldn't believe her eyes, as though the princess was a delusion. With how sick she looked, Celestia wouldn't be surprised if she had been seeing fever induced hallucinations lately.

Without a warning, the filly fainted. Celestia quickly conjured up a blanket, wrapped the filly in it and put her by the fire to dry off. She put a hoof to her forehead and quickly pulled it back at how hot she was. This filly was _really_ sick.

Celestia ran to the door. "Guards!" She yelled, desperate to get this filly help.

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><p>The doctors had diagnosed the filly with a rather nasty case of pneumonia, brought on by both malnutrition and exposure to the elements. A large search was on to find her parents, and it was slowly spreading all over Equestria. So far, nothing had come up. <em>You poor thing. You're so young, still a few years away from your Cutie Mark, and yet you've faced so much hardship. But, you're strong, I can see that. You'll pull through this.<em>

Celestia had been caring for the filly, paying for her treatment, and offering to take her in if her parents hadn't been reached by the time she was out of the hospital. No one beyond Celestia, Luna, the four guards who helped Celestia take the young filly to the hospital, and the small team of doctors and nurses who were taking care of her knew Celestia's connection to the filly. Celestia preferred it stayed that way.

One of the hardest parts about immortality is that everyone around you who isn't immortal will die one day, as you stay the same age forever. Celestia and Luna had learned this lesson the hard way, and because of this, they never got extremely close to mortal ponies. Twilight Sparkle was, so far, the only exception, and Celestia enjoyed their friendly teacher/student relationship. Celestia wasn't sure what she was going to do when Twilight Sparkle died, unless the Elements of Harmony granted its users immortality, as was Celestia and Luna's theory, which would give Twilight Sparkle and her friend's immortality. She and Luna had been studying this theory, with no luck.

This filly was different, though. Celestia couldn't help but love the little pony, and Celestia was starting to come to terms with these feelings as she watched the innocent and vulnerable filly sleep. She wanted to protect the filly with all of her might, wanted to help her grow up and learn life's lessons, cheer her up when she was sad, share laughs with her, and be there for her. She was only an Earth Pony, so Celestia would never teach her to fly or use magic, but she could still teach her so much. She never wanted the filly to leave her life.

These feelings confused Celestia. She knew what they were; maternal instincts, things every mare had that helped them raise fillies. But, Celestia had no children, so she'd never experienced these feelings before. She never expected them to be so strong. She wanted to cry over this filly's sufferings like she was her own flesh and blood. She wanted to take her home and raise her in the castle, make sure she never went hungry again.

She even had a selfish desire, one that made her angry with herself. She wished that this filly really was orphaned, like they all were beginning to suspect, so she, and she alone, could care for her.

She didn't like those thoughts, so she replaced them with this wish; once the filly was better and reunited with her parents, Celestia would request to keep in contact with the filly. Watch her grow up, be almost like an aunt, or perhaps grandmother, considering her age.

The filly coughed slightly in her sleep, causing Celestia to jump, shaking her out of her thoughts. The nurse and princess waited to see if the filly would wake up, but she just yawned and keep on sleeping. Both mares smiled at the flilly.

"I should be going. I have duties to attend to," Celestia said to Kind Heart.

The nurse nodded. "Of course. Don't you worry, Princess. I'll make sure that this little filly is well cared for." They both again smiled at each other.

"Oh, Kind Heart?" The nurse reacted to the princess saying her name, and tilted her head in a questioning sort of manner. "Please let me know somehow when she wakes up."

"I'll make sure of it, Princess." Kind Heart said with a smile.

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><p><em>You know the drill: New chapter on my other story up on Saturday blah, blah, blah. Why do I even put this? Probably cause I can, and just in case. Thank you for reading and reviews are appreciated, as long as they aren't flames. See you soon! :)<em>


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